In 1891 the Murchison Goldfield was proclaimed. Tom Cue worked at the Nannine headquarters as a mining warden. Cue set out with experienced prospectors Mick Fitzgerald and Ned Hefferman, to explore the quartz deposits in the Coolgardie region and had some successful gold finds.

While Cue was in Geraldton registering the small amounts they found, Fitzgerald and Hefferman with the help of an aboriginal man named Governor, discovered a gold-bearing quartz reef. The find was called The Patch and later became known as Cue's Patch. The town of Cue grew on the 'patch' and was proclaimed a municipality in 1894 along with the nearby town of Day Dawn. Cue became the main town of the Murchison region with impressive government offices and a hospital.

Former Murchison explorer and Premier, John Forrest, was committed to the development of the region and five years after the major find, Cue was connected to Geraldton by telegraph and railway.